Kii Audio - Three

nicoludio

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Kii Audio GmbH - High End Active Speakers for HiFi and Professional use.

This should be interesting, if it works as promised and delivered on time. From Bruno Putzeys, who designed and/or was involved in, Hypex, Mola-Mola and Grimm Audio LS-1.

DSP controlled, active speakers, with some rather amazing specs.

4x 6.5" woofer, 1x5" midrange, 1" waveguided tweeter, all individually driven
Amplification: 6x250W full-custom Ncore
Active Wave Focusing™ crossover filter
Frequency response: 20Hz...25kHz +/- 0.5dB
Phase response: minimum (best possible time coherence).
Long term SPL(*): 105dB
Short term SPL(*): 110dB
Peak SPL: 115dB
Controlled Directivity: 4.8dB (80Hz - 1kHz, slowly rising thereafter)
Size: 20x40x40cm, 8"x16"x16" (WxHxD)
Weight: 15kg (33lbs)
Inputs: Analogue, AES/EBU, WISA
Selectable correction for free-standing, near wall or in corner

WISA compatible so wireless connection possible too.

Launch video from Munich 2015, with Bruno speaking on the design goals and technology used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Nebe3ULcY

Some impressions from Srajan Ebaen (KIH #22 - More time delay with Kii Audio | DAR). Target price of EUR10,000, if unchanged upon delivery, seems rather competitive for what it purports to offer.

Key technology appears to be the "Active Wave Focusing" filter, which aims to take the rear wall away from the sound equation. If the following pictures from Bruno's own living room is any guide, near wall placement would not be an issue at all - would be an amazing solution for small/medium listening rooms. In the background are the Grimm LS1s and Vivid Giyas - guess that could have inspired the horizontally opposed woofers (like the Devialet Phantoms).

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I did not attend the launch event in Munich so have no idea how they sound. The initial production units are scheduled for delivery to the dealers in September/October this year, assuming that there are no delays.

The living room in the first post belongs to Bruno Putzeys, the gentleman who was involved in the design of the Kii Audio Three and the Grimm Audio LS1/s. It is interesting that he has what appears to be Vivid Giya G3 for reference as well.
 
Funny that there is not a lot of interest of this topic. Apparently this is a breakthrough in loudspeaker technology German magazine Audio is quite clear in their statement: "why has nobody done this before?".

Basically they have designed a speaker design that solves a lot of room related problems with its built-in DSP's. I think we cannot ignore this type of development and should try it out. I have scheduled a listen session in September.

Peter Breuninger also seems more enthusiastic about this one:


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The Kii speaker system has all the potential in the world to become a real game-changer within this segment. A true high-end product reaching out to both the audiophile community as well as the music lover with high demands and challenging interiors. I can't wait to receive and get to know them in depth. A very intriguing product.
 
The Kii speaker system has all the potential in the world to become a real game-changer within this segment. A true high-end product reaching out to both the audiophile community as well as the music lover with high demands and challenging interiors. I can't wait to receive and get to know them in depth. A very intriguing product.
Yes I am sure it will. As you can read in Wolfram Eifert's conclusion he doesn't believen music fans can keep their eyes dry when they hear that speaker. The transparency and ease of playing music are apparently from another planet. I am looking forward to the demo, that's for sure. I guess one day people on this forum will realize this.
I think Bruno Putzeys is the new genius in audio.
 
Funny that there is not a lot of interest of this topic. Apparently this is a breakthrough in loudspeaker technology German magazine Audio is quite clear in their statement: "why has nobody done this before?".

Basically they have designed a speaker design that solves a lot of room related problems with its built-in DSP's. I think we cannot ignore this type of development and should try it out. I have scheduled a listen session in September.

Kii_Audio_fazit.jpg

Thanks for posting this. Looks like it lost out on points for max SPL and bass extension reasons, which is not unexpected given its compact form. The other comments and ratings look quite good otherwise.

Its been quiet as I believe that dealer deliveries are due only in September/October so only reviewers (and those who attended the Munich launch) have heard them. Plus, with active speakers, there is nothing much to "tweak" - other than LAN and AC cables. I am looking to hear them once they arrive at my dealer.

Initially, only the double pillar, sand fill-able, stands (used in Munich) will be available. In 2016, there will be a so-called lifestyle stand with a design to match the Three, with "channels" to hide the speaker and AC cables.

I understand that Kii Audio will also be developing a (or possibly two) remote interface/controller box (similar to Grimm) to be used with the Three, where the digital source is connected to the controller box, with RJ45 (wired) or WISA (wireless) connection to the speakers. No details yet on whether the controller box will have USB or UPnP inputs though.
 
Maybe you should consider taking this product into your range Mike. This is one of those products, like Devialet, where people are skeptical initially to later find that it is a game changer.

I definitely need to hear them!
 
Looks very promising.

What is the key difference to Grimm, Emerald Physics, Devialet Phantom and Goldmund wireless Metis Tower speakers (expensive at $18K). the last 2 have built in amps and Dac and the Metis has built-in DRC as well. EP has it all but electonics are ouboard. Do the Kiis have built in Dac?
 
Thanks for posting this. Looks like it lost out on points for max SPL and bass extension reasons, which is not unexpected given its compact form. The other comments and ratings look quite good otherwise.

Its been quiet as I believe that dealer deliveries are due only in September/October so only reviewers (and those who attended the Munich launch) have heard them. Plus, with active speakers, there is nothing much to "tweak" - other than LAN and AC cables. I am looking to hear them once they arrive at my dealer.

Initially, only the double pillar, sand fill-able, stands (used in Munich) will be available. In 2016, there will be a so-called lifestyle stand with a design to match the Three, with "channels" to hide the speaker and AC cables.

I understand that Kii Audio will also be developing a (or possibly two) remote interface/controller box (similar to Grimm) to be used with the Three, where the digital source is connected to the controller box, with RJ45 (wired) or WISA (wireless) connection to the speakers. No details yet on whether the controller box will have USB or UPnP inputs though.
115db max SPL is a LOT. More than the Silver Phantom at 105db which is the Club max in the EU, apparently.
120db can peel paint off the wall.
 
Looks very promising.

What is the key difference to Grimm, Emerald Physics, Devialet Phantom and Goldmund wireless Metis Tower speakers (expensive at $18K). the last 2 have built in amps and Dac and the Metis has built-in DRC as well. EP has it all but electonics are ouboard. Do the Kiis have built in Dac?
Hi Norman,
Each speaker includes six amplifiers and six DAC's (each driver has its own) according to Reichard's comment in the movie clip. I think these guys are really good in using the DSP's and what they call motion control. I suspect they control and manipulate the timing of each driver in a way that they use the edges and back walls to produce, or enhance direct sound instead of echoic noise. That is the only way I can think of how this works. Also as I can read they use counter phase loads on the drivers to enable amplitude reduction in certain directions. I have to be honest that I don't understand how this works.
But according to the Audio conclusion (living in Genf you must be able to read German right? :-)) It really sounds powerful as a big speaker, even though they classified as a compact speaker, but most of all transparency, clarity and the relaxed way the speaker presents the music is unique.

Another technically novelty that I can read is that in this latest version of the class D amps (you know that Bruno Putzeys is the guru of this technology) they incorporated impedance feedback which ensures that the amplifier adapts to the character and frequent range of the driver. This seems very smart. Interestingly (like with the Devialet Phantom) this mini box will reach down to 19Hz!
 
Thanks Hans,

Compelling stuff. I also like the hat tip to Rowen's negative output impedance tech with the impedance feedback feature. Tri-amping and TriDaccing per speaker shows a no-compromise attitude and all the DSP goodies sound great. Definitely a must hear speaker.

With what these and the others I mentioned above are doing, they really could change the high-end landscape in the coming 5 years.

i know that Goldmund already feels that the future is HERE now and it is wireless! If only they were a lot cheaper...LoL
 
I will make an effort to listen to these when in Germany next.

The Pro version will be released in 2016. Apart from colour, I wonder if there are any other differences?
 
With what these and the others I mentioned above are doing, they really could change the high-end landscape in the coming 5 years.
I know they will!

i know that Goldmund already feels that the future is HERE now and it is wireless! If only they were a lot cheaper...LoL
The Kii Three also supports wireless. Look at the diagram that I have posted on the previous page. They use Wisa support. Is Goldmund also on the Wisa standard?
WISA_logo_full.png

I think 10k EUR for speakers, amps, and DAC's is reasonably priced!
 
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